Should You Workout When You're Pregnant?
/There’s a reason they call it labor.
Being in labor was the most physically demanding and exhausting experience of my entire life. Then, at the end of it, they want you to push. Which is like pushing your absolute max squat over and over again every 30 to 60 seconds. Oh, and by the way, all while controlling your breathing so you don’t overly stress the baby.
Fun. (note sarcasm)
And yet, almost everyone I met was surprised that I was still working out in my third trimester. In fact, I had a number of people (not my doctor, or any kind of health professional, mind you) tell me that I should stop, that I needed to rest. That it probably wasn’t good for me.
Not good for me? As I mentioned earlier, labor was the most physically demanding and exhausting experience of my entire life. Why wouldn’t I train for the big event?
In one of our birthing classes, labor was compared to a marathon. I honestly don’t think there’s a more perfect analogy. Birthing is demanding, physical, and intense. You have to be in touch with your body and push through the pain to receive your beautiful reward at the end. And yes, there will be pain, even if you choose to have an epidural (I didn’t choose to have an epidural, but I’m told that the pain from even getting the epidural is extremely intense). But luckily your reward is so much more than a medal.
The way I see it is, you’ve entered the marathon. You have approximately 25-35 weeks to prepare (depending on when you found out you entered, your baby’s estimated arrival date, and when your baby decides to show up), so why wouldn’t you train? Even if you’ve never worked out a day in your life, you still have several months to train for the big event. And every bit of training you get in will make the marathon easier.
Okay, I’ll drop the marathon analogy here in a moment. But even four and a half months after Clara’s birth I’m convinced this analogy is one of the things that helped me through my unmediated labor. In fact, at one point in time during labor I looked at Rob and told him that I didn’t think I could do it. To which he replied, “Everyone feels that way at some point during the marathon. You can do this. I know you can.” And he was right. Marathon athletes describe hitting “the wall” and how at that point there’s a mental block that has to be overcome before they can physically finish the race. I had hit the proverbial labor “wall,” and I had to push through it to meet our baby.
So here’s the thing. There’s no “one size fits all” pregnancy workout plan. But the key is, you need to move your body as much as you can. You need to stretch, and you need to move. Yes, I was still teaching PiYo and doing barbell squats and deadlifts into my third trimester, but I had been training 5-6 days a week before I was pregnant. And even with that, the last month my primary workouts were walking and yoga.
That’s right. Walking and yoga (stretching/relaxation).
Barring physical ailments, anyone can walk and stretch. True, maybe your walks will be shorter. Or maybe they’ll take longer than normal because you’re moving slower… but you’re moving your body, and that’s what matters. As for the yoga, not only did the stretching help tremendously, but relaxation practice was huge for me.
Relaxation practice. I know, it sounds kind of silly, but I know I’m not the only person out there that doesn’t “relax” well. It’s like I always have something running in my brain. And when I take a body inventory, I almost always have a little tension I can release somewhere. Through practice, I learned that my shoulders were the obvious pace I held tension, but what was not so obvious was the tension I held in my jaw. Since Rob was my coach during labor, I was able to tell him where my sneaky tension points were and he was able to remind me to relax them. Maybe that sounds ridiculous, but when you’re in the middle of labor those little reminders (like how to breathe and where to relax) can make a huge difference.
So no, I’m not telling you to do insane high intensity workouts throughout your pregnancy. But what I am saying is that you need to do something. Move your body. Nurture your body. Take care of your body. Your body is your baby’s home, so don’t beat it up, but do push yourself to move even when you don’t want to. It’ll be worth it in the long run.
You know, the marathon is easier when you train for it.
Please note that this is not medical advice. Every pregnancy is different. Make sure you talk to your doctor or midwife about the appropriate amount of physical activity for your situation.